Ellis Merriweather (born April 7, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

for the Green Bay Packers of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Early life and high school

Merriweather's hometown is

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the C ...

and attended

Alpharetta High School Alpharetta High School is a public high school located in Alpharetta, Georgia, United States within the Fulton County School System. ''Atlanta Magazine'' named Alpharetta High School one of the metro Atlanta area's best all-around high schools ...

. In Merriweather's high school career he rushed for 556 yards and six touchdowns, while bringing in ten recptions for 77 yards. Merriweather would decide to commit to play college football at

Garden City Community College Garden City Community College (Garden City CC or GCCC) is a public community college in Garden City, Kansas. It was established in 1919 to provide a means for post-secondary education for area residents. The school initially shared facilities i ...

College career

Garden City

In Merriweather's career at Garden City he rushed for 910 yards and ten touchdowns in 18 games over two years.

UMass

After two season with Garden City, Merriweather would decide to transfer to continue his career at UMass. Merriweather finished the 2020 season with 115 rushing yards and one reception for four yards. In week six, Merriweather had a career performance rushing 39 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns, as he helped UMass get their first win on the season beating

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

27-13. In UMass's season finale, Merriweather had another steller game, running the ball 23 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns, but the Minuteman would fall to

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

. Merriweather finished his breakout 2021 season with 218 carries for 1,138 yards and five touchdowns, along with hauling in 22 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown. In week eleven of the 2022 season, Merriweather had a great performance rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns, but UMass would lose to

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Merriweather finished the 2022 season with 150 carries for 575 yards and three touchdowns, while notching eight receptions for 48 yards. Merriweather finished his UMass career with 410 carries for 1,828 yards and eight touchdowns, while talling 31 receptions for 217 yards and a touchdown.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

After not being selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

, Merriweather signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad, but released the next day.

Green Bay Packers

On November 6, 2023, Merriweather was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 22, 2024.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio

Garden City bio

UMass Minutemen bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merriweather, Ellis Living people American football running backs UMass Minutemen football players 1999 births New Orleans Saints players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from Atlanta